Ridley's Bilge
Ridley's Bilge is the lair of Hieronymous Ridley, Chairman of the pirate Council of Barons and the most dangerous man in the Elusian Isles. Built from the shipwreck of a colonist passenger flag ship, The Bilge is a towering fortress crawling with pirates of Ridley's Raiders The Bilge is also the location of the Baronsmoot, a gathering of pirates from across the Isles to witness the appointment of a new Baron. History The Bilge was first constructed during the Native Uprising, a months-long civil war between the enslaved peoples of the Elusian Isles and the Mainlander Colonists. During the Sacking of Landfall, revolutionaries attacked Landfall Settlement, the largest township under the rule of Lord Adrien Etoufette. As the Lord hid in his castle at Fort Etoufette to the south, the Natives burned the town to cinders, killing any colonists who stood by as their people were slaughtered and subjugated. In a last-ditch effort to escape, townspeople and imperial soldiers alike piled into The Agatha, a civilian flagship. The vessel was rumored to have left many on the dock as it departed, leading to desperate colonists diving into the mire beneath Landfall's boardwalk in attempts to catch it. At first, the passengers of The Agatha thought they'd escaped, but a sudden and unprecedented move by the revolutionaries would spell their doom. In a charge led by Tselu the Younger, the natives commandeered a trio of naval vessels from the abandoned naval docks, and gave chase. At Shipwreck Shoal, the colonists were boxed in, and subject to a swift and bloody raid by Tselu and his men. After boarding the ship and butchering much of the crew, Tselu turned The Agatha around and brought it right back to the burning settlement of Landfall. Legend has it he ran it right into the boardwalk, beaching the vessel and absolutely destroying the town hall. In the years to come, a Native man calling himself Hieronymous Ridley would take up residence in the wreckage, which he dubbed "Ridley's Bilge." Extensive renovations turned into a multi-storey stronghold, complete with crew quarters, a great hall, a penthouse for Ridley himself and ample amenities. As pirates, vagabonds and other undesirables flocked to the new pirate port, the ruins of Landfall were refurbished into a living, breathing town once again, but of a decidedly different sort. Layout Ridley's Bilge is a characteristically chaotic place, filled with stilthouses standing precariously over the churning marsh beneath. Most every walkable surface is a wooden boardwalk, connecting the structures to each other, the wreckage of The Agatha and dry land, near the edge of town. To the northeast is an extensive wharf, where ships from across the Outer Rim and beyond dock to sell off stolen cargo, trade in black-market goods and sniff out new hires for merchant and pirate crews alike. Location Ridley's Bilge is located in the ruins of Landfall Settlement, near the north-westernmost point of Patau Island, in the Elusian Isles. Deep in the territory of its master, Hieronymous Ridley, The Bilge is surrounded by largely disused former-plantations, overgrown and derelict in the decades since the Uprising. The waters around The Bilge are treacherous, not just for the swamps and mires, but as well for the violent and ruthless crews that call it home. A traveler should be well-equipped for a fight if they wish to reach the Bilge unmolested. In the Books Hollis first visits The Bilge in Book Two: The Council of Barons, for the Sixteenth Baronsmoot. He arrives with the corpse of the late Lucky Jim Haverstram in tow, having killed him in the aftermath of the Battle of Cannoneer's Alley. After a series of schemes and alliances, Hollis leaves the Bilge with the title of Baron of the East, and a debt owed to Sheng Chi of the Tong.